Pharmacy Technician (Inpatient)

Summary

This position functions primarily in Pharmacy Service in the inpatient care areas within the Salisbury VA Medical Center. The incumbent serves as a staff pharmacy technician, preparing medications for inpatients in various setting, including sterile product preparation.

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Duties

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• For unit-dose medications, performs final review of medication when prepared by another technician, to be dispensed to inpatient areas (med-carts, ward stock), and/or fills unit-dose carts independently without secondary review when necessary
• Prepares inpatient drug orders including all medicinal dosage forms such as, intravenous admixtures, oral solids, etc., according to established procedures and protocols
• Inventories and replenish emergency carts
• Collects drug use evaluation data for quality improvement purposes as required
• Operates and maintain complicated pharmacy equipment such as unit dose prepackaging machines, automatic dispensing machines, IV compounding machines and other pharmacy devices
• Compounds and/or reconstitutes oral or external medications (non-sterile). This includes calculating and converting to proper weights and measures the amount of drug or solution to be used
• Answers questions from pharmacy and non-pharmacy personnel regarding drug distribution
• Identifies basic therapeutic problems such as duplicate therapy with drugs in the same class and alerts the pharmacist to the possible need for clinical intervention
• Assists in total quality improvement activities by participating in medical center and service process assessment and action teams and continually seek to improve services
• Maintains, verifies, stocks, and replaces outdates in patient care area automated machines
• Assists with inventory management and ordering of medicines
• Compounds sterile products for use in inpatient and outpatient areas of the hospital
• Maintains a clean environment for compounding sterile products

Preferred Experience: Inpatient Pharmacy Experience

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule : Full-time - Rotational - 7:00am - 3:30pm or 8:00am - 4:30pm, off tour assignments, subject to the needs of the service

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements :

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.
• Education or Experience. (1) None Required. (2) For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:

(1) Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB)

OR

(2) National Healthcareer Association (NHA)

• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Preferred Experience: Inpatient Pharmacy Experience

Grade Determinations

GS-7: Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work.

(b) Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent.

(c) Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.

(d) Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.

(e) Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution.

(f) Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases.

Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level are nationally certified and can work autonomously using independent judgement to perform a full range of duties. These pharmacy technicians mentor and train lower graded pharmacy technicians in the practice setting. They assist advanced/specialized pharmacy technicians and participate in performance improvement initiatives. At this level, pharmacy technicians use independent judgement to perform the full range of duties in the pharmacy. They also function as staff pharmacy technicians in various locations of the pharmacy, including pharmacy contact centers and other non-traditional pharmacy locations, with minimal oversight.

Certification: Must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: PTCB or NHA.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.